Deadly Obsession
by wuteva4eva456
Summary: Sharpay, a freshman at Juilliard, begins to feel pressure to lose weight in an attempt to gain a part. However, it soon becomes clear that she has become obsessed with her weight. Will her high school friend, Troy, be able to save her from herself?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm starting a new story right now, because I'm having some major writer's block in my other story (Their Broken Road). This story is mainly about Sharpay.

Title: Memoirs of an Obsession

By: oOMissLovelyEagle9Oo

Summary: Sharpay Evans is now a freshman at Julliard. She is both eager and nervous about her performing arts school. At first glimpse of the extremely thin dancers in her class, Sharpay starts to feel self-conscience about her body. Her disgust soon turns into an obsession with becoming thin. Soon, Sharpay finds herself at a dangerous 93 lbs., but she still can't stop. Will someone be there to make her stop, or will she starve herself to death?

Chapter 1

Sharpay Evans, an eighteen year old girl from Albuquerque, New Mexico, eagerly walked up the steps to the building that held the dorm rooms. She had a small white piece of paper in her free hand that had her room number and her roommate's name on it. In the other hand, she had a large suitcase. Sharpay clutched it as she walked into the building and towards the stairs.

As she climbed them, she thought of her twin brother, Ryan. He didn't get into Julliard, like she did, but he was close enough. He was going to NYU this year. They had both promised before they parted ways in New York to meet up every Saturday to catch up. Right now, Sharpay wished it were a Saturday because she was extremely nervous. She usually wasn't nervous about performing and such, but this was Julliard. This was her dream school! She just couldn't help but feel nervous about being in a new school where she knew no one.

She finally reached the 3rd floor, the floor her room was on, and she set down her suitcase opened the heavy door that led to the dorm hallway. She mentally made a note that she had to look for room 307. She soon found it and swung the door open with her free hand.

In the room, she saw three girls who were all gathered around one of the beds. All three girls' heads shot up to see who was at the door. Sharpay gave a weak smile as she struggled to drag her suitcase in. One of the girls popped up and gave Sharpay a hand. The girl that was helping her was very thin, yet she was wearing baggy clothes. The girl plopped the heavy suitcase on the other twin-sized bed. She then reached out her hand to shake Sharpay's.

"Hi, you must be the new freshman. I'm Anna." Anna seemed friendly, so Sharpay firmly grabbed her hand and shook it politely. Anna then looked over at the two other girls on the bed and said to Sharpay, "These are my two friends, Lauren Marshal and Sophia Jackson. They live next door."

Sharpay smiled and shook their hands. She responded politely, "It's nice to meet you," to each of the girls.

Sharpay assumed that this was Anna Lenders, her roommate. Sharpay then went to her suitcase and pulled out some of her clothes. Her suitcase was jammed with all her stuff. She still had even more stuff in her car, but she didn't really want to get it just yet.

As Sharpay pulled out all her stuff, Anna, Sophia, and Lauren were watching her intently. When Sharpay pulled out a picture of her and all the gang back in Albuquerque. Sophia instantly asked to see it. Sharpay handed it to her, so that she could study it.

Lauren and Anna looked at it over Sophia's shoulder. Lauren's head popped up and she said, "So these are all your friends?"

Sharpay nodded. She loved that picture. She remembered how great of a night she had at Chad's graduation party. Ryan and Sharpay soon became close to the whole gang after the night of the callbacks, the basketball game, and the Scholastic Decathlon. Even though she and Kelsi were already sort of friends, they became even closer to each other. Gabriella and Taylor were also close friends of Sharpay. She and Zeke tried dating for a few weeks after Triple Threat Day, but it didn't work out. They are still close friends, though. Since Troy and Gabriella, Chad and Taylor, and Jason and Kelsi were dating, Troy, Chad, and Jason also became apart of the oddly paired group.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" some said causing Sharpay to come out of her thoughts. Sharpay looked up and looked at the three girls staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"Um…no. No, I don't. Do any of you guys?" Sharpay asked her newfound friends.

Anna spoke up, "Yep!" she said eagerly. "His name is Justin."

Sharpay smiled and looked at the other girls, "Do you guys have one?"

Sophia slowly shook her head 'no', "I broke up with mine last year," she sighed.

Lauren also shook her head 'no.'

"Oh," Sharpay responded.

Lauren then said, "This one's hair is huge!" She pointed to Chad who had some strange party thing in his hand.

Sharpay giggled and responded, "Yeah. Chad does have some big hair."

Anna pointed to Troy and said, "Omigosh this one is way cute."

Sharpay again laughed and said, "You think Troy is cute? Um…okay…" Sharpay tried to hide that she agreed with her.

The girls didn't notice this. Lauren then spoke up, "So, where are you from?"

Sharpay smiled, "Albuquerque, New Mexico."

"Oh cool," they all murmured.

"Where are you all from?"

Sophia started, "Well, I'm from Kansas City. Lauren is from California. And Anna is from this very city: New York."

Sharpay smiled. "Wow, that's cool. I'd love to be from New York. All the fashion, Broadway, and the whole hustle of a big city. Albuquerque isn't really known for any of those, except that it's a big city."

All the girls nodded. Sharpay already loved it here. She couldn't believe how nervous she was before. The only real feeling she felt right now was that she was a little hungry.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna go get a bite to eat. Anyone want to come?"

Anna quickly declined. Lauren said she had to get all her stuff moved in. Sophia hesitated, but eventually she declined also. Sharpay sighed and waved goodbye to the three as she left the room.

When the three were alone again, Lauren softly said, "She's gonna have to learn a thing or two if she wants to survive here."

A/N: This isn't really like any of the other stories I've written before. That's something I'm actually happy about. Tell me what you think, by reviewing please!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline.

Chapter 2

A week later, Sharpay had all of her stuff moved in. It took about a whole day to unpack and organize, but it was worth it. Her side of the room looked like her room did back home.

Right now, Sharpay was sitting cross-legged on her small, twin-sized bed. She was reading a book for her English Literature class. Occasionally she would look up to check what time it was. _10:07, _she read on the digital clock's screen. _Where was Anna?_ she thought anxiously. _She's been getting ready for bed for almost an hour! Maybe I should go check on her…_

Sharpay quickly banished the idea from her mind. _Anna would be okay. _Sharpay stubbornly though._ She's a 20-year-old woman who could take care of herself._

Sharpay then tried to continue reading her book, but she couldn't concentrate. So, she anxiously looked around the room. She glanced over at Anna's bed. Her bedspread was a simple white and blue quilt. Anna's walls were decorated with several black and white pictures of New York, Paris, and London. The shots were beautiful and graphic. There was a large picture of Big Ben, the clock tower in London, spread over her bed. Another picture of the Eiffel Tower was on another wall. Then finally, a picture of Ellis Island, a few skyscrapers, and the Empire State Building was framed along side the Eiffel Tower.

Suddenly, while Sharpay was still staring up at Anna's walls, the door opened. Anna quietly walked in carrying her ditty bag and smiled at Sharpay. Anna's shoulder-length, light brown hair was now tied up in a ponytail. She had on an oversized t-shirt on and flannel P.J. bottoms. Her face looked red, like it had been scrubbed over and over.

Sharpay ignored all of this. "Did you take those pictures?"

Anna grinned at this and responded proudly, "Yep. I took the pictures of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower while on a school trip back in high school. I was on the yearbook staff in high school."

"Wow," Sharpay responded, truly amazed at how great the pictures were. There was a few moments of silence, until Sharpay looked up again and said, "So, I never did ask you. What are you studying here?"

Anna leaned back on her bed and started. "Well, at first I came here to study theatre, but then a friend of mine took me to see a ballet performance. I instantly fell in love with it. I started taking classes and lessons last year and I've been doing it ever since."

Sharpay nodded. She didn't know much about ballet, but she thought it was truly an art of the theatre. Ms. Darbus, her high school drama instructor, would agree with her on that.

"I didn't ask you either what you were studying, Sharpay," Anna suddenly stated.

"Oh," Sharpay said as she came out of her thoughts. "Well, I'm here on a scholarship for theatre, singing, and drama."

"Wow," Anna stated. "You got a scholarship? You must be good if they got you from New Mexico."

"Wait. You didn't get a scholarship here?" Sharpay was surprised. She just assumed that Anna would be here on a scholarship, too.

"No," Anna sighed. "I wish I did, but I didn't. I'm originally from Manhattan. My dad's a producer for a few musicals in New York, so we're pretty rich. I paid my way into Julliard. The only reason I was accepted was because of who my dad is."

"Oh," Sharpay said quietly.

Anna continued. "It was my dad who wanted me to apply to Julliard. He went here so he of course wanted his only child to go here also. He's always put so much pressure on me. I even remember when I stared in my first high school play, he still didn't approve of me. He'd always point out my mistakes and compare me to other girls."

This was one of those times where Sharpay didn't know what to say. She used to always have something to say back in high school, but it was different here. All she could manage out was "oh."

Anna looked up at Sharpay and she looked her over with a critical eye. "I don't know if you've noticed that here, at Julliard, people only make it to the big time if they look a certain way." Anna paused and closed her eyes for a second. She fluttered them open and then whispered. "Between you and me, and I'm not trying to offend you or anything, but you need to lose some weight. That's the only way you'd be able to do anything here. If you want a role in the upcoming play, than you've got to. I've seen girls that would kill for this main role." Anna then looked away. "I've got to get some sleep. Think about what I said, okay?"

Sharpay, barely able to move, choked out an "okay." She couldn't believe what Anna had just said. She certainly didn't think of herself as fat. She just assumed that she was at a normal weight for girls of her height. Sharpay quickly got out of bed and dashed down the hall towards the bathroom.

When she got into it, she looked herself over in the mirror. Suddenly she saw what Anna had meant. She looked heavier than usual. Sharpay lifted up her shirt to reveal her flat stomach. To Sharpay, it looked as if she had a little pudge and love handles on her. She had to fix this!

Just then, a girl who looked to be about a year older than Sharpay came into the bathroom. _She's so skinny compared to me!_ Sharpay thought with alarm. She still couldn't believe that she hadn't seen this before. _I've been this fat for all of my life!_ Sharpay suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She quickly dashed to an open stall and purged all of the remains of her dinner down the toilet. Sharpay whipped the vomit off of her lips and flushed the toilet. She felt a little better, but not much. She'd have to start working hard to lose the weight if she wanted to be in the play. The play was in 2 weeks. She was going to have to work hard at this if she wanted it. Sharpay quickly declared to herself that she would be going to the gym the next day to work off all of her fat.

A/N: Yeah, I know this seems over the top, but I wanted Sharpay to get this obsessed. I mean, that's the title…lol. Anyway, thanks for the reviews. I hope you'll review and tell me what you think about this chapter. I always like to hear what readers think. Suggestions are always welcomed. Anyway, review please!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay. I'm updating again. I'm trying to update every other day for my loyal readers. If any of you are wondering about my other story (Their Broken Road), I tried to get my cousin to write a chapter for me, but she didn't want to. Then my brother tried to write a chapter, but it of course was horrible, graphic, and rude. So whatever. Anyway, please Read&Review this chapter! All the reviews mean so much.

Chapter 3

A few days later, Sharpay was still convinced that she was fat. She continued to throw up what little food she actually ate. Nobody, except for Anna, really noticed what Sharpay was doing to herself. Sharpay herself ignored her informed conscience that knew about eating disorders. She just figured that she would do this for a little while, and then she would stop once she was happy with her figure. Little did she know, was that Anna had been trying to stop for years. She never could, though.

When Saturday finally rolled around, Sharpay went to the local Starbucks to meet Ryan. She had already planned the night before what she would do about eating.

"Ryan!" Sharpay exclaimed when her brother finally arrived. She ran up to him from her small, round table that she had got for both of them. He gave her a huge hug, and Sharpay led him towards the table off in the corner. She had already ordered Ryan's usual large bagel with cream cheese on it. Sharpay didn't get anything for herself but a small, decaf coffee.

When they settled into their seats, Ryan started, "So, sis. How's Julliard?"

Sharpay saw no traces of bitterness in his voice, so she went ahead and started bragging. "Omigosh! Julliard is fantastic! I love it there. I've got a great roommate, who's giving me a few tips, and my classes are great. I'm doing pretty good." She paused and realized that she should be polite and ask him about his classes. "So…how's NYU, Ryan?"

Ryan lit up. "I love it there, too. My roommate is okay. He's sort of a drag to have around though. He's all depressed and such. But anyway, guess who's in my theatre classes?"

Sharpay just shook her head, defeated, and asked. "Who's in your class?"

Ryan smiled and exclaimed, "Troy Bolton."

Sharpay's eyes must have fully come out of her sockets because Ryan looked at her worriedly. Finally Sharpay mustered up some strength to say something. "T-Troy? As in Troy Bolton?"

Ryan nodded his head and said, "Yeah. I didn't know that he was going to NYU, either. I though he got a scholarship for basketball at Iowa State, but I guess he wanted to be a performer instead."

Sharpay still couldn't believe it. She's had a crush on Troy since kindergarten, but she never really acted on her feelings. Ryan knew that she liked Troy, so he then said. "This could be the perfect chance to talk to him, Shar."

Sharpay shook her head vigorously. "No way."

Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes. He gave her a huge grin.

Soon after, Ryan's order was announced, so he left to go get it. When he came back, he handed Sharpay her coffee. He gave her a questioning look. "Is that all you're having?"

Sharpay nodded as she took a small sip of her coffee. "My roommate Anna and I went out for breakfast together," she lied. She knew it was wrong to lie to Ryan, but she didn't want him to make her eat something. She had to lose the weight in order to get the part.

"Oh," Ryan said, completely clueless to what was really going on with his twin.

Soon, Ryan finished his bagel and stood up. Sharpay also stood up and went towards the trashcan to throw away her barely sipped coffee. Ryan gave her a questioning look, but he didn't say anything.

They went towards the front door and started walking the New York streets. As they neared New York University, Ryan asked if she wanted to see his dorm room. Sharpay agreed, completely please that she had something to do. Unbeknown to her, Ryan was secretly plotting to take her to Troy's room.

As Ryan led her to his floor, he decided to take her the long way, the long way went past Troy's dorm room. Ryan gave her the whole tour, stopping a few times to talk to some of his new buddies. He would then introduce Sharpay, and then they would be on their way again.

Soon, they stopped at a dorm room. Sharpay assumed that this was Ryan's room so she barged into it. Ryan tried to stop her, but she ignored it. She soon realized why he tried to stop her.

In the dorm room, was Troy Bolton. He had a long towel wrapped around his waist and he was standing by a sink that was installed in all the dorm rooms. Troy's head instantly shot up when he heard the door open. He was completely surprised by who was standing there. It was Sharpay Evans.

"Sharpay!" Troy screamed out. He grabbed a shirt that was sprawled out on his bed and pulled it over his head quickly. Sharpay, completely mortified, rushed out of the room. Ryan apologized to the still shocked Troy, and ran after his sister. By the time he reached her, she was already at the stairs. When she saw Ryan, she shrieked at him.

"Why didn't you tell me that that was Troy's room! You knew that I would do that, didn't you! You just wanted me to make a fool of myself, didn't you! How dare you, Ryan!" She then rushed down the stairs without letting Ryan have a word in. She ran all the way out of the building and towards the nearest cab. All she wanted was to get away from that extremely embarrassing scene.

The cab took her to the Julliard dorm building, and Sharpay raced inside. She ran the three flights of stairs to her floor, and into her dorm. She was relieved to see that Anna wasn't there. The last thing she needed was someone questioning her. She just wanted to erase the whole mortifying scene from her mind. She crawled into her bed and cried until she thought she could cry no longer. Shortly after, she fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

For the next couple of days, Sharpay mostly stayed to herself. She wouldn't even tell Anna about the mortifying experience she had with Troy Bolton.

That day, a Wednesday, Sharpay was sitting in her French class trying hard to pay attention to Miss Pearce's lesson. She was instead, thinking about what she'd do with her food at lunch. She wasn't quite down to size yet, but she was coming close. Anna had said the other day that Destiny Chavez, a girl who'd always get the lead in the plays, was a size 0. Before Sharpay went on a "diet" she was a healthy size 4. Right now she was barely fitting into a size 2. She was going to have to get serious if she wanted to fit into a size 0.

"Miss Evans?" a voice boomed at her. Sharpay's head bolted up. She looked around and saw everyone staring at her. She also looked at the front of the classroom. Miss Pearce was staring at her intensely. Suddenly, Sharpay realized that she was being called on.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question?" Sharpay asked in a small voice. Before Julliard, Sharpay would have put on a fake voice and smile to soften the blow. But now, if she were to do that, than her head would have been chewed off for trying to fool them. She had learned it the hard way in Mr. Daniel's class.

Miss Pearce gave her the death glare and ignored her question. Instead she flatly said. "Pay attention Miss Evans, or else I'll fail you." She then asked another girl to answer the question. Sharpay merely sunk into her seat, trying to ignore the stares she got.

After class, Sharpay rushed up to her dorm. She was going to make an excuse to get out of going to lunch with a few friends she made in her Liberal Arts class. But when she got on her floor, her lunch dates were waiting for her at her dorm room.

Erin, one of her friends, saw her coming and excitedly asked if she was ready.

Sharpay tried to think of the best excuse possible. "Um…I'm not feeling up to it_." Great excuse._ Sharpay thought disappointedly to herself.

Ava, her other friend, quickly saw through this so she exclaimed. "Oh no you don't. You aren't getting out of this that easily."

Sharpay sighed. She knew that she wouldn't win this. She'd just have to purge it later. "Okay…"

Ava, Erin, and her other friend, Sydney all smiled and led her towards the stairs. They soon got a cab and went to one of Erin's favorite restaurants, Kip's (A/N: I'm just making it up. Lol. I've never been to New York…). During the car ride, Sharpay asked what kind of food that it served.

Ava answered immediately, "Oh. It serves the best kind of food: soul food. I mean this place can serve mash potatoes like my mom can make." Sharpay sighed to herself. This was going to be hard to resist. Plus, it was extremely fattening.

Soon, they came to the restaurant and the cab parked and let the 4 girls out. Sydney rushed in the restaurant so that they wouldn't lose their reserved table. When they were all in and ready, the waiter led them to their table. As soon as they were seated, Sharpay noticed two people she recognized. It was Chad and Troy. Sharpay slid into her seat, hoping that they wouldn't notice her. Suddenly, Troy's head swung over towards her booth. _Too late,_ Sharpay sighed.

Soon Chad noticed Sharpay too. "Whoa! It's the Ice Queen!" He had never really warmed up to Sharpay enough to call her by her proper name.

Troy was staring at Sharpay. Contemplating if he should go over to her. Suddenly, she got up. He saw her lean over to tell her friends something.

"Hey, I'm going to the bathroom, okay?" Sharpay told her friends quickly. She then quickly tried to get away.

"Excuse me," Troy told Chad as he rushed towards Sharpay, leaving Chad speechless.

Troy caught up with her in the lobby of the restaurant. "Hey Sharpay!" Troy exclaimed at her. She stopped and slowly turned around. She weakly tried to smile at him.

"Hi Troy," She said nervously. She paused waiting for him to say something. He looked at her intensely thinking seriously about what he should say next. He hadn't really thought that far into his plan yet. She finally got fed up with waiting and started to say something.

"So…" she started. "What are you doing here?" Troy came out of his trance and spoke up.

"Oh, um well. I was just having some lunch with Chad. He came into town for the day," Troy tried to act cool, but it was very hard. He was trying hard to ignore how pretty Sharpay was looking. _She looks different to me…_Troy thought. _Did she lose some weight?_

Sharpay interrupted his thoughts. "Why isn't Chad in school?"

"Oh, well…" Troy started. "Well the thing is that he just wanted to talk to someone."

Sharpay didn't seem to be buying it. "He could have just called you…"

Troy sighed. He didn't really want to tell her the real reason. He'd then think that he'd be a total dork. But Sharpay gave him the death stare, so he finally gave in. "Well…the reason is that I wasn't really settling in, and I was missing Chad." He sighed and then said, "You think that I'm a dork don't you?"

Sharpay chuckled a little, shook her head and said. "That's all? You missed Chad? Why didn't you just go and see him?" She had thought that that would be the practical thing to do, since he went to the same college as Gabriella and Kelsi.

"Because he had the week off and I didn't really want to see him there," he said as he went to the nearest bench and sat down.

"Why not?" Sharpay asked as she followed him.

Troy sighed and said, "Gabriella and I broke up."

"Oh," Sharpay said, trying her best to feel bad. In truth, she was actually happy.

"Yeah," Troy responded. They both paused and watched people come in and out of the restaurant.

Finally, Sharpay stood up and said, "Well. You probably should get back to Chad."

"Yeah," Troy said as he also stood up. "I hope he's not lost without me." Sharpay giggled a little as they walked back to Troy's table. Chad wasn't at their table, though. Sharpay looked over at her table.

"Um…Troy?" She said tapping him on the shoulder so he'd turn around.

"Yeah?"

"I found him," Sharpay pointed over at her own table where Chad was sitting. He looked like he was having a great time flirting with the girls.

Troy laughed sharply and mumbled, "That's my Chad."

Sharpay heard and chuckled. "Hey, I don't think I really want to stick around, so I think I'll be going."

Troy nodded and said, "Yeah. I think I'll do the same." Troy went over and told Chad that he was leaving, and Sharpay told the girls the same.

Sharpay didn't even realize what kind of impression she was giving off when she left with Troy Bolton. Well, technically she wasn't leaving _with_ Troy. He was just leaving at the same time she was.

"That's my boy," Chad said as he smiled a cocky smile.

As Sharpay walked out, with Troy at her tail, she was fishing through her purse for her sunglasses. The sun was extremely bright. Troy came up beside her and said, "So, do you want to share a cab with me?"

"Um…actually. I want to walk." Sharpay answered.

"Oh," Troy said.

"Do you want to walk with me?" she asked him hoping for a yes.

"Um…sure," he responded. _It's a yes!_ Sharpay thought excitedly.

"Okay," Sharpay said trying to hide her excitement.

They walked in silence for a ways. Finally Sharpay broke the ice.

"So…why'd you and Gabriella break up?" She tried not to sound too interested, but she secretly wanted to know.

"Oh," Troy responded cheerlessly. "Well…we decided that it would be too hard to keep a long distance relationship. I mean, she's in California at UCLA, and I'm here in New York."

"Oh, yeah," Sharpay sighed. There was again silence. Sharpay suddenly felt the need to apologize about what happened a couple of days ago. "Listen, Troy. About the other day…"

Troy then interrupted. "You don't have to apologize."

"Yes I do. I shouldn't have barged in there. I didn't know it was yours though, if that helps."

Troy just nodded. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. It didn't scare you did it?"

Sharpay chuckled. "Naw."

Again, there was silence. Troy then started, "I'm sorry. You probably didn't get any lunch did you? You want to go get something from Starbucks or something?"

Sharpay started to panic. She quickly stated, "Oh no. It's okay. I have a class coming up soon," she lied.

Troy seemed disappointed, but he didn't notice that she was lying. "Oh, okay."

The rest of the walk was silent as they neared Juilliard. Luckily it was so centrally located.

"I'll see you later, Troy," Sharpay told him as she neared the dorm building.

"Okay," Troy stated as he watched Sharpay turn around. "Sharpay?" he suddenly asked.

She turned around. "Yeah?"

Troy mustered up all his courage. "Do you want to get together sometime? Chad's leaving, and Ryan and I don't see each other a lot…so…would you?"

Sharpay smiled. "Sure, Troy. I'd love to. Call me sometime, or you can just stop by."

Troy gave her a huge grin and responded. "Great. I'll do that sometime. See ya Sharpay."

"Bye, Troy," Sharpay said as she turned around. She smiled to herself as she walked into the brick building. She was finally getting everything that she ever wanted. She got to hang out with Troy, her crush since…well, forever. Her diet was also paying off too. She figured that it wouldn't be much longer until she could finally be able to be a size 0.

A/N: That chapter was my longest yet in this story. I hope you all liked it. Please review. I've also noticed that I haven't been getting many hits to my story. That makes me sad.  But what makes me even sadder is when people don't tell me how I'm doing. I like knowing if I'm doing well or horrible. So please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the long delay….I've been a little busy. Sunday was the day to update, but I went to the lake for like the whole day. I had a blast there because I got to water ski! I had to do it with humongerous skis, but oh well. I then got caught up with the whole back to school business. I go back on the 16th. I wish I wasn't, but whatever. Good-bye summer I guess. Here's the next chapter:

Chapter 5

_Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep! _

Sharpay woke up with a groan. She hated how her alarm clock blared. It was just so annoying. She slowly sat up. She stared over at her bedside alarm clock. It was 9:30 in the morning. She was going to have to hurry if she wanted to meet Ryan for their Saturday breakfast. Well…it was really Ryan's Saturday breakfast, since she again planned to skip the meal. In the past week, the only thing that Sharpay had eaten was various fruits, vegetables, and bits of a cinnamon roll that she couldn't resist. She had kept them all down because she knew she should at least feed her body some food.

She then quickly swung her legs over her bed and pulled the covers off. Sharpay then bolted up, but it must have been too fast because she felt very dizzy. She felt very warm and everything sort of clouded up. She immediately dismissed this feeling and tenderly got up and crept to her closet. Everything then cleared up, but she did notice her stomach was aching and rumbling. She ignored it as she had learned to do during the past week.

Sharpay then carefully pulled out the new outfit that she had gotten from Bloomingdale's. It was a flowey white slip dress with a bright blue sweater over it. The dress had multi-colored sequins on it. It was also a size two. She could just barely fit into the dress, but she thought it looked good. She just hoped that she would be able to get down into a size 0 soon. Auditions would be in a week, and she had to look impressive.

As Sharpay slipped her dress on and gingerly pulled the cardigan sweater on, she noticed how fluttery her hands were. She realized that it was probably because her upcoming outing with Troy. They were planning on going out on Tuesday to see a matinee. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Troy had called her up on Thursday night out of the blue to ask her. Since it was a matinee, Sharpay assumed it was just a friendly outing between friends. But she was secretly hoping that it would evolve into something more. She felt slightly guilty about her feelings considering that Gabriella was her friend, but she couldn't help but wonder…

Sharpay immediately fell back into reality when the door opened. She looked over to see who was there. It was Anna.

Sharpay went back to fidgeting with her dress and looking for her white pumps while Anna plopped her keys onto the dresser. Anna then crashed on her bed and looked Sharpay over with a critical eye just as she slipped on both her pumps.

"Not bad, girl," Anna said with a huge grin on her face. "You look like you just step off from the runway!"

Sharpay grinned back and sighed, "Thanks. Do you think it's too much for breakfast?"

Anna gave Sharpay a coy look, "That depends; who's it with?"

"Oh just my brother, Ryan. Don't be all disappointed. It's not a guy."

Anna leaned back and asked in interest, "Now why would I think it would be a guy? Is there a guy?"

Sharpay blushed slightly and stated. "No, no way!"

"Yeah, whatever," she grinned, completely dismissive.

Sharpay rolled her eyes in response as she headed for the door. "Bye Anna," Sharpay called as she closed the door. She heard a faint "bye" through the door.

She walked down the hall and down the familiar three flights of stairs. Sharpay then walked the two blocks to Starbucks.

When she got into the crowded coffee shop, Sharpay looked around to find Ryan. She didn't have to look too hard before she spotted him in the corner with his usual bagel. She also noticed that he had another one before the opposite seat. This made her tense up. _Quick Sharpay_, she thought nervously to herself. _Think of a good excuse! _Sharpay looked around_. Maybe I could leave and call him to say I couldn't make it…_

Ryan suddenly swung his head over towards his sister's direction and waved her over. _Too late_, she grumbled as she walked over to her brother trying to cover up her nervousness.

"Hey, Shar!" Ryan exclaimed as she sat down before the dreaded bagel. She racked her mind to try to come up with plausible excuse, but she couldn't quite find one. She'd just have to hide it or something.

Sharpay quickly responded to Ryan, "Hey, how's it going?"

Ryan, completely oblivious to Sharpay's demeanor, cheerfully chimed it, "Oh absolutely great. I'm doing really great in my theatre class. I got partnered up with an amazing girl who is a fantastic actress. Her name's Cassie and she's almost perfect. She's beautiful, smart, funny, nice, and talented. She's got the whole package. She can even sing and dance. I was a little intimidated by her at first, but I got over it. I asked her out tonight too. We're going to a musical. I can't wait!"

Sharpay beamed at her brother. She had taken a few small bites out of her bagel by habit. When she saw what she was doing she almost lost it. She tried to hide her worry, but it obviously showed when Ryan questioned her sudden change in behavior.

Sharpay quickly racked her brain with an answer. "Um….well…" she stammered. She quickly brushed it off and replied slowly, "I just realized that I didn't have any cream cheese on it."

Ryan nodded uncertainly and accepted the answer. He continued to chatter about his drama partner, but Sharpay was tuning him out. She was feeling the same heat come over her from that morning. Everything seemed to darken and then next thing she knew, she was on the ground.

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHS

"Sharpay? Shar can you hear me? Sharpay!"

Sharpay slowly came to conscience. She fluttered her eyes opened to see who was yelling at her. She saw Ryan hovering over her, staring at her intently."Sharpay? God, you're wake. Good."

She slowly tried to get up, but intense pain raged through her head. Instead she lowered her head back onto the hard floor. "What happened?" she asked her brother, trying hard to ignore the small crowd hovering around her and the intense stares from bystanders.

"You passed out," he responded gently as he helped his sister up. Sharpay's head was throbbing angrily. She felt as if she was ran over by a truck. She held on tightly to Ryan's arm and onto the back of the chair she fell out of. Many people in the small crowd glanced worriedly at Sharpay before they departed the scene. One lady stopped to tell Ryan that he should get he to the doctor. Ryan nodded in reply and stated, "That's where I was planning on taking her."

Sharpay started to panic. "I don't need to go to the doctor, Ryan. I'm fine. I'm not bleeding or anything. I'll be okay."

Ryan shook his head in disbelief. "You aren't going to get by that easily. You're going to the doctor, now. Something's up, so we're going."

Sharpay opened her mouth to protest but Ryan just grabbed her forcefully by one arm and grabbed her purse with the other. She didn't have time to react because she was so surprised at how roughly Ryan was handling her. He dragged her outside and whistled for a taxi. When one appeared, Ryan pushed Sharpay gently into the cab and slid in next to her.

"Where to?" the driver asked in a thick Italian accent.

"The hospital," Ryan responded gruffly.

The taxi driver immediately took off down the busy street. Sharpay finally opened her mouth and started to protest.

"Ryan, I don't need to go to the hospital. I'll be fine. I just got over heated." She saw that it did no good, but she continued to fume. "I don't need you to protect me. I'm perfectly fine."

Ryan seemed unconvinced. "Well, I'd rather get you checked out just in case. We'll let the doctor confirm it, okay?"

Sharpay was silent. She couldn't talk her way out of this. She knew that her secret was quickly unraveling, and she couldn't stop it. Now a doctor was going to become involved. She started to rack her brain with ideas to get out of it. Finally she came up with one.

"Ryan? I think I know why I passed out."

Ryan lifted his eyebrows in response. "Well, tell me then."

"Well…" she started. She couldn't believe that she was about to tell him this but it was the truth. "I didn't eat my dinner last night. I completely spaced trying to study for my French exam. I just didn't have enough time to go get something, and I didn't eat all of my bagel either. I'm really hungry right now, so could we get something to eat? I'm starved."

Ryan stared at her in disbelief. "That's all? I thought you had some disease or something. Well…I guess we can go get something. What do you want?"

_Yes!_ Sharpay exclaimed to herself. _He bought it!_

"I kind of want some pancakes," she responded coolly.

Ryan nodded in agreement. "Okay. That sounds good to me. Let's go. Driver?"

Sharpay sighed in relief as Ryan quickly explained their change of plans to the cab driver. Ryan then paid the man and they both got out and started walking towards the pancake house. Sharpay had silently decided to eat just a little bit since she didn't want another dizzy or faint spell to happen again. But after this, she'd have to get serious about her "diet."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Once again, I'm so sorry for not updating. School's just started and I'm still trying to get used to the change. I was going to update yesterday, but Friday was the back to school dance, and I was just too tired on Saturday to update. I've been so tired lately. It's a big change from sleeping in until noon everyday to having to get up at 6 a.m. every morning. I'm going to have to start getting up at 5:30 soon so I can run. I want to get in shape. Well I'm done rambling. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 6

The next few days seemed like a blur to Sharpay. It was soon Tuesday, the day that Sharpay and Troy were supposed to go to the movies together. The whole day, Sharpay was anxious to either get out of class or she was nervously rummaging through her closet for the sixtieth time trying to find the perfect outfit. She couldn't wait until 3 o'clock, the time she was supposed to meet Troy.

When 2 o'clock rolled around, Sharpay was still tearing up her closet trying to find an outfit. She had finally settled on a three-quarter-length light blue blouse and a knee length, dark brown skirt. She then pulled two sections of her hair back and put a barrette in to secure it. She looked herself over in her full-length mirror, and let out a slight groan. She still felt incredibly huge.

Suddenly, Sharpay bolted out of her dorm room. She accidentally bumped into someone in the process, but Sharpay ignored the person and ran to the bathroom. She swiftly pulled herself into the stall, not bothering to shut it, and puked out the remainder of her lunch. She didn't realize that someone was watching her leaning over the toilet in the unlatched stall.

Suddenly, a familiar voice boomed, "Sharpay? What's going on? Are you sick?"

Sharpay quickly swung around to find Ryan staring at her. She quickly composed herself and stood up to face Ryan. His face was filled with worry and confusion.

"Ryan, um…I wasn't feeling well. I think I've come down with something," Sharpay said trying her hardest to look sick.

Ryan saw through this act quickly and demanded in a calm voice, "Tell me what is really going on, Shar."

Sharpay bit her bottom lip, trying to rack her brain with another excuse. She couldn't believe that she had come to this, lying to her brother on a regular basis. She always could talk to Ryan. Ryan was her rock, her brother, and her best friend. She then broke down and cried, "Ryan, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to do," tears were falling freely down her face.

Ryan, confused, asked, "What do you mean you 'didn't know what else to do', Shar?"

"I don't know. I was just trying to get the lead in the play Ryan!" Sharpay was now sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what Ryan would do either. She was waiting for him to get angry and walk out on her. That's what she would have done if the roles were reversed. But Ryan was his own person, and he surprised her.

"Sharpay, I think we need to get you a doctor. You shouldn't be doing this to yourself. It's not right," Ryan paused and embraced his sobbing sister. "You don't need to do this. You're better than this. You know better, Shar."

Sharpay cried on her brother's shoulder for the longest time. There was no need for words. Nothing could describe what kind of feelings they were going through. It felt like her soul was clean now and she no longer had to dirty it by lying. It was almost bittersweet because she now had someone to talk to and not lie to, but her secret was no longer secret. Ryan knew. He'd make her go to the hospital. Then everyone would know. Troy would know. _Oh God_, Sharpay screamed in her head. _He's going to know. He's going to hate me. _

As Sharpay was thinking this, Ryan led her gently into her dorm room. He led her to her bed and he motioned for her to sit down. Sharpay complied and he sat opposite her on Anna's bed. He let out a sigh and pulled out his cell phone. He punched some numbers in and held the phone to his ear. When the person on the other line answered, Ryan replied, "Yes, can you give me the name and the number of the nearest hospital that might have an eating disorder wing or something along those lines."

Sharpay opened her mouth to protest, but Ryan shook his head to dismiss her. He then responded, "Thank you."

Sharpay, completely frustrated with Ryan, plopped back on her bed and let out a groan. When Ryan was done with the phone call, he put his phone back in his pocket and stared at Sharpay, who was still sprawled out on her bed. She then sat up and exclaimed at Ryan, "I don't have an eating disorder, Ryan. I'm completely fine. And I don't care what you say because I'm not going to the hospital."

Ryan was not convinced and stated, "Sharpay, you won't admit you have a problem because you want to keep on doing it. It's not good for you, despite what you think. And you are going to the hospital, even if I have to drag you there myself."

Sharpay quickly hurled back, "What about school, Ryan? I have to go to my classes or else I'll fail."

Ryan sighed and responded, "You'll just have to sit this semester out. And if they won't let you and revoke your scholarship, then you can just come to NYU. Mom and Dad can afford it, you know."

"I don't want to go to NYU, Ryan! And I don't want to go to a hospital either. You can't make me. You aren't Dad or Mom, Ryan."

Ryan sighed and scowled at his sister. "You're right. I'm not Mom or Dad, but I am your brother and I want to do what's best for you. That's why you are going."

Before Sharpay could react, Ryan grabbed her and led her out the door. She kicked and screamed at Ryan and finally broke free of him. She ran back into her dorm room, and tried to lock Ryan out, but he got in before she could turn the lock. Sharpay then crossed her arms over her chest in a form of rebellion. Ryan just shook his head and exclaimed that she was going.

Just as Ryan was contemplating whether or not he should carry her out, Troy appeared at the door. He looked confused at the scene in front of him that showed Ryan grasping Sharpay's thin wrist, and Sharpay sitting on the bed. He then asked nervously, "Am I interrupting something?" He then turned his attention towards Sharpay. "I thought you were meeting me at the movie theater."

Sharpay remained silent and yanked her arm out of Ryan's grasp. Ryan then turned towards Troy and said, "Now's not a good time, Troy."

Troy asked confusedly, "What's going on? Is there something wrong?"

Ryan nodded his head and glanced over at Sharpay who was looking down at her bedspread.

Troy was now really worried. "What happened? Is Sharpay okay?"

"No, she isn't. Troy, will you do me a favor and help me get her outside. Please don't ask questions, either. I need to take her somewhere and she won't go."

Troy nodded nervously and glanced over at Sharpay. Sharpay shook her head vigorously and then said to Troy, "Don't believe him. I don't need to go anywhere. He's just making a big deal out of nothing."

Ryan stepped in for Troy who was looking very confused. "Oh yes you do. Troy help me, would you?" Ryan then grabbed Sharpay's arm and tried to lead a struggling Sharpay out. Troy just stood there completely disarrayed. "Troy!" Ryan exclaimed as Sharpay tried to get out of Ryan's grasp. Troy quickly grabbed Sharpay's other arm tenderly and uneasily tried to lead her out. He tried to ignore Sharpay's thrashing to stay in her room, but he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Where did Sharpay have to go, and why didn't she want to go. Was she alright? He knew he wasn't supposed to ask questions but he couldn't help but ask.

"Ryan! What are we doing? If I'm going to help you, you at least need to tell me what's going on," Troy exclaimed as he struggled to hold onto a skirming Sharpay. Ryan opened the door that led to the stairs and he and Troy quickly walked down the stairs. Sharpay seemed to mellow a little, so Troy loosened his grip on her as did Ryan.

Sharpay then turned towards Troy and said, "I'm okay, Troy, I really am. Ryan is just worried over nothing. He saw me puking and he got all bent out of shape."

Troy's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Was Sharpay making herself throw up? He glanced at Ryan and looked for approval. Ryan understood what Troy was thinking and nodded. Troy then looked at Sharpay, the girl who seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. This was also the girl who didn't care what people thought of her. How could she be doing this to herself? As he was thinking this, they came to the bottom of the stairs and started towards the street. Troy then let go of Sharpay seeing that she wasn't thrashing around anymore. He then called for a cab and helped Sharpay inside it. He then ran to the other side and climbed in the front seat.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked Troy.

"Um…I think the hospital," Troy answered as he looked over at Ryan who was trying to calm Sharpay down.

"Alright," the driver answered as he pulled out into traffic. Troy leaned back in his chair and sighed. He still didn't know what to make of this, but he knew that he had to be there for Sharpay.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating. I kinda feel as if I've written this story into a corner. Ideas are totally welcomed.

"Hey Taylor," Troy said into his cell phone as he paced the hospital waiting room. "It's Troy. Well….I just wanted to let you know that Sharpay's in the hospital. I don't really have the time to call everyone, so if you could get the message along, it'd mean a lot. I don't know too many details so I'll call you later. Bye." Troy sighed as he sat back down. He hated to deliver the news by voicemail, but he had to get the news to the gang somehow. Troy knew that Taylor was the most responsible person in the group, so he chose to call her.

As time went on, Troy anxiously waited in the hospital waiting room. He was trying to focus on the magazine article in last month's _Reader's Digest,_ but he had too many things on his mind. _Why did Sharpay do this?_ He thought. She was always the type of person to blow off other peoples opinions of her, so why would she resort to making herself throw up?

"Troy," a voice came from a distance, pulling him out of his thoughts. Troy looked up towards the voice. It was Ryan.

"Hey Ryan. How's Sharpay?" Troy asked as he set the magazine down and stood up.

Ryan exhaled sharply and whipped his hand over his face tiredly. "She's asleep right now," he said as he gestured for Troy to sit down. Ryan then sat in the seat next to him.

Troy saw the pain in Ryan's eyes and started, "Listen, Ryan…I know you feel guilty for this, but it's not your fault."

Ryan nodded his head and said, "Yeah. I know, but I can't help wonder why she resorted to throwing up her food to lose weight. I mean, our parents are doctors, Troy. They made sure that we ate healthy foods and exercised regularly. Sharpay knew better than this. What happened?"

Troy shook his head. He wasn't educated in eating disorders so he wasn't sure what to do to help Sharpay. "Ryan, I think you should have her talk with a counselor or a therapist. It might help her."

"Yeah. I probably should. I guess I'll ask Shar's doctor if she recommends anyone," Ryan said as he slowly got up. He turned towards Troy and added, "If you want to see her, she's in room 1049."

Troy nodded and stood up. He watched Ryan walk towards the nurses' station to ask for Sharpay's doctor. Troy then turned towards the hallway that led to Sharpay's room. He nervously searched for Sharpay's room number. When he found the room, he anxiously reached for the door knob. He was surprised to see a pale, gauntly figure standing by the open window. The figure's skinny hands were grasping the paneling of the open window.

"Sharpay?" Troy said softly in recognition of the boney figure. Sharpay slowly turned around. The front part of Sharpay was even more shocking. Her usually rosy cheeks and full pink lips were replaced by a pale and emaciated looking face with taunt, thin white lips. He struggled to hide his horrified reaction from Sharpay who was already looking at Troy anxiously.

"Sharpay…" Troy started. "How are you?"

Sharpay let out a long, dramatic sigh and started, "Troy, you know that I don't need to be in the hospital! You have to help me get out of here. I tried to convince Ryan, but he wouldn't listen to me. This place is for crazy people and I'm not crazy! I _need_ to get out of here! I have an audition to get to! Troy, you know I would do the same for you if you needed help, so _please_ help me!"

Troy stared at Sharpay who was dramatically holding her thin arms out to gesture that she needed help. He exhaled sharply and stated, "Sharpay, this is exactly where you need to be." Troy then started to turn around towards the door.

"Troy!" Sharpay exclaimed as she dropped her arms and rushed towards him. She tried to hold onto Troy, but he wouldn't allow her. "You _have _to help me! You can't just leave me here to rot. I thought you liked me, Troy!"

"I do like you Sharpay. You mean a lot to me and that is why I'm doing this. You need some serious help," Troy responded as he continued to pry Sharpay off.

"You can't do this to me, Troy! I've done so much for you and this is how you repay me?" Sharpay shrieked loudly. "Well fuck you Troy Bolton. Leave! I hope I never see your face again!" Sharpay let go of Troy and he rushed out of the room.

Sharpay slowly fell to the ground and started sobbing into the tile floor. As she laid on the ground sobbing, several orderlies rushed into the room and pried Sharpay off the ground. Troy watched in silence as the orderlies struggled to put Sharpay into the hospital bed. He watched her thrash about as the orderlies tried to calm her down.

Finally, after several minutes of struggling, a nurse came in and injected Sharpay with a sedative. Immediately, Sharpay calmed down and fell back onto the pillow. The orderlies stepped back and turned to leave the room and nodded to Troy as they left. The nurse walked by and attempted to get Troy to leave, but he wouldn't move. He seemed frozen in place as he stared at his friend's skeletal figure. He watched Sharpay's bony chest rise and fall as she slept. Troy could still hear the echoes of Sharpay's shrieks and cries, pleading for him to come and rescue her. He did nothing. He just stood and watched. Troy knew this was the best thing for her, but he couldn't help but feel guilty for not doing anything but standing there. Several tears fell from his face as he silently prayed for Sharpay to get better.

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

Over the next few weeks, Troy went to the hospital almost every day after his last class. He had made sure that he would come in to see her when she was sleeping, so she wouldn't become upset. Twice, he had sent Sharpay her favorite flowers, daisies, to her room.

One day, as Troy was arriving at the hospital, he bumped into Ryan.

"Hey Ryan," Troy said to his friend.

Ryan, who appeared to be exhausted, smiled weakly and responded, "Hey Troy. Shar's awake right now, but the doctors are going to give her another sleeping pill in a little bit."

Troy nodded and said, "Ryan, do you want to go with me to get some coffee from the cafeteria? I haven't had any caffeine today."

Ryan smiled and responded, "Yeah. I guess I need it, don't I? I look like shit."

"I thought that was a subtle way of putting it," Troy said grinning.

Ryan nodded and walked towards the elevator. Troy followed and they went down two floors to the cafeteria.

Pretty soon, Troy found himself at a table sitting across from Ryan. Both were quietly sipping their coffee and trying hard to ignore a little girl who was screaming across the room.

After several minutes of silence, Ryan finally spoke. "Sharpay was force fed last night."

Troy almost choked on his coffee. "What?"

Ryan nodded sadly, "You know how she hasn't eaten anything in days. She barely holds down the food that the nurses have fed her. Yesterday, her doctor finally got fed up with Sharpay after she refused to eat again. So…the doctor had my mom sign a form saying that whenever Sharpay refuses to eat, they will stick a tub down her throat and give her liquid food."

Troy sighed softly. He knew that Sharpay needed to eat, but he didn't want her to be fed through a tube. "Why did your parents agree to it?"

Ryan shook his head. "I don't know. Ever since they got here a couple of weeks ago, they've been taking over almost everything. I mean, they've never really cared too much about what we do, until now."

Troy nodded in understanding. He felt that way with his own parents at times, but they weren't nearly as distant as the Evans. He never really remembered a time when he actually saw Ryan and Sharpay's parents at musical in high school. It is only now that they seem to truly care about their children's needs. Ever since Ryan called them, they've been practically living in a hotel near by the hospital.

Ryan then said, "Troy, I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm behind in school, I'm barely holding onto my job, and Sharpay's still not getting any better."

Troy nodded. "I know how you feel. I'm distracted too."

"Troy, she's not your sister. You don't know how I feel," Ryan snapped.

"I know, but she means a lot to me, Ryan. We've known each other since kindergarten." Troy responded softly.

Ryan nodded. "Your right. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that."

"It's fine, man," Troy responded. "We're all on edge."

"Yeah," Ryan said in agreement. "We should probably get back to Sharpay."

Troy nodded. "Yeah, we probably should."

Both stood up, threw away their coffees, and slowly walked towards the elevators.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Readers…if I were you, I'd be totally disgusted with my updating. For some reason, this story has been extremely difficult to write. It's hard to write about an eating disorder when I honestly have no first hand experience with it. If I make ANY mistakes at all, don't be afraid to tell me. I really want to make the best story I can. Thank you for the ideas, musicofthenight32. I appreciate your help. Also, I want to thank all my reviewers/readers. I know that I have been updating sporadically and some of you have given up on this story, but it's not dead quite yet. Here's the next chapter:

Chapter 8

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The sound of the monitor connected to Sharpay beeped continuously. After a while, Troy barely even noticed it. He had been sitting in a chair that was pushed into a corner in Sharpay's hospital room for 3 hours straight. He was tempted to sleep, but he didn't want Sharpay to wake up and find him sitting with her. It was a Friday night and he had once again blown off a dorm party to sit with Sharpay. He never realized how much he cared about her until she was admitted to the hospital.

As he sat there, his mind drifted off to memories of the first time he met Sharpay.

_(Flashback)_

_Two 5-year-old boys sat in a tiny sandbox attempting to build a sandcastle. One of the boys had light brown hair and electric blue eyes and the other had dark, curly hair that was cut closely to his head. _

"_Troy," the boy with the curly, black hair said to his friend._

"_What, Chad?" Troy responded._

_Chad nudged his friend and pointed over to a tiny girl with pigtailed blonde hair wearing pale pink overalls. She was walking over to the pair._

_Troy and Chad continued to stare down the little girl as she came nearer._

"_Can I play?" the little girl asked the two boys._

_Troy tried his best to bury the extra shovel in the sand and responded, "We don't got no shove for you."_

_The little girl looked suspiciously at Troy and stated, "I saw you just bury that one shovel right there." The girl pointed to where Troy buried the shovel clumsily._

_Chad spoke up, "We don't want no icky girls playing with us."_

_The girl looked like she was trying not to cry. "B-but Miss Sally said that we have to share our toys."_

_Chad frowned and rolled his eyes at Troy, "Okay. You can play with me and Troy, I guess."_

_The girl smiled happily and plopped down in between the two boys. Troy unburied the shovel and handed it to her reluctantly._

"_What's your name?" Troy asked she handed it over to her._

_The girl again grinned and responded happily, "I'm Sharpay Evans. What's your names?"_

"_I'm Chad Danforth and that's Troy Bolton," Chad told Sharpay as he pointed to himself and then Troy. "We're gonna be the most greatest basketballers in the whole wide world when we grow up."_

_Sharpay smiled and said, "I'm gonna be the greatest singer and dancer ever. I'm gonna get to go to New York and sing some day."_

_Troy looked Sharpay over carefully, "What's New York?"_

_Sharpay rolled her eyes dramatically. "New York is a place, dummies. I went there at Christmas with my mommy and daddy and my brother Ryan. We saw the Nutcracker."_

"_Nutcracker?" Troy asked confused. "What's a Nutcracker?"_

_Sharpay again rolled her eyes. "It's a play, silly-billies. It's the bestest play I've ever seen in my whole life," she said as she demonstrated with her arms held out wide._

_Chad was not impressed. "What's so great about this nutter thingy? I like to play a lot of things."_

_Sharpay let out a long dramatic sigh. "You animals don't understand nothing." She then got up and ran over to her brother who was sitting alone on a swing. She then started pushing Ryan on the swing as she glanced over at the two boys who were looking very confused._

"_What's she talking about?" Troy asked Chad confusedly._

_Chad imitated Sharpay and rolled his eyes. "Who knows? She's nuts."_

_Both boys went back to their work in building the sandcastles._

_(Flashback ends)_

Troy smiled at that memory. He felt almost as clueless now with Sharpay as he did then. He had no idea what he could do to help her.

As he pondered a way to help her, Sharpay slowly woke up. Her throat was hurting terribly from being force fed the night before. She glanced around the room with her eyes and saw Troy sitting in the corner with his head tilted downwards so he couldn't see her. Sharpay shuffled around in her bed stiffly to try to get his attention. Troy's head then shot up and he looked at her bewilderedly. He wasn't supposed to be there. He knew that he should give her the space she wanted, but he didn't.

"Sh-Sharpay…" Troy stammered nervously. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be here when you woke up."

Sharpay carefully sat up. She looked past Troy's nervous face and at the wall clock. It was past midnight. She then turned her attention back to her anxious friend and looked into his eyes. Troy's eyes were dark and cloudy, unlike the usual bright, electrifying eyes that she had fallen in love with so long ago. She noticed the dark circles under his eyes, his wrinkled shirt, and his face looked extremely tired. She began to understand how worried Troy really was about her. As she realized this, Troy began to slowly get up and walk towards the door.

"Troy--" Sharpay suddenly said with a scratchy voice. She quickly regretted saying anything due to the immense pain in her throat. Troy quickly looked up and glanced at Sharpay. She started again, but slower so that she wouldn't feel her throat vibrate as fast, "Troy—um—please don't leave."

Troy gave her a puzzled look. "Sharpay—um—I'm sorry, I don't want to disturb you or anything. I just—" He suddenly stopped and thought about what he was saying and what Sharpay had just said. She had just asked him to stay, even though she had screamed for him to never see her again. He was so confused by Sharpay's many reactions. Even though he knew she didn't mean what she said, he wondered why she continued to toy with his emotions.

He paused and slightly smirked at his befuddlement. He suddenly became angry with Sharpay. "I don't understand you at all." Troy stated as his smile turned to a solid manner.

Sharpay glanced up at Troy's constrained face and quickly turned away. She felt as if she were a child about to be punished and was too frightened to face the wrath of her parents.

Troy stared down at her. "You tell me that you never want to see me again, and now you want me to stay with you?"

Sharpay wouldn't look at Troy as he said this. "You always do this! Say or do something, and then you do the exact opposite."

Sharpay rolled her eyes and stated dryly, "I never do that."

Troy protested. "Yeah, you do. You told me that you would sing and dance in New York, and if you don't get out of this, then you will never sing or dance on Broadway! Even worse—you might die!"

Sharpay looked up and stared at her supposed friend. "Why do you care so much Troy? It doesn't matter. I don't have a problem. Ryan is just overreacting about this whole thing. _Every _girl in the performing art program skips meals sometimes or if they eat too much they'll just throw it up. It's not that big of a deal."

"Every girl does this, Sharpay?" Troy asked as he looked at her suspiciously.

Sharpay nodded her head quickly as she gave him a look as if to say, 'duh.'

Troy replied, "Name me 5 people who do this and then I will leave you alone."

"Well…my roommate, Anna. Um…er…" Sharpay paused to think. "Oh! Sophia and Lauren—Anna's friends." She continued to think about whom else she knew, but she wasn't even positive Lauren and Sophia threw up their food. Anna occasionally said something about how Sophia took too long in the bathroom stall, but Sharpay didn't know for sure that she purged her food.

Snapping Sharpay out of her thoughts, Troy cleared his throat impatiently and glared at her. "Only 3 people? That's _everyone_?" He said sarcastically.

"Well…I don't know too many people. I've only been in school for three months," Sharpay declared defensively.

Troy raised his eyebrows slightly and exhaled loudly. "Okay," he said as shoved his hands into his pockets. "I guess you have an answer to everything, then."

Sharpay shrugged and responded, "Well, do you think I'll just sit here and let you chew my head off?"

"No," Troy answered softly. "I'm kind of glad about that."

"What do you mean?" Sharpay asked confusedly.

Troy sat down and started, "I guess…W-what I mean is that I'm glad you're still Sharpay."

"Of course I'm still Sharpay, Troy. I've been Sharpay all of my life," she slowly said, clearly puzzled.

Troy flashed a grin at his flustered friend. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm glad you haven't changed since you've been in the hospital."

"Oohh…"Sharpay said as she formed her mouth into an "O" shape.

Troy grinned again and stated, "I'm sorry about giving you a hard time, Shar. I'm just scared."

Sharpay nodded and stated seriously, "Well, you should be." She then smiled to soften the blow.

Troy smiled back and leaned back into his chair. He began to talk with Sharpay about his school life and how NYU is even better than what he thought it would be. They talked about his boatload of homework, and how he really wished the whole gang were in New York City. The subject then turned to Gabriella and his feelings for her.

"Do you still love her?" Sharpay asked Troy softly.

Troy looked away and paused for a few seconds. He then responded, "Well…if you're asking me if I'm over her—than yes. I think I've moved on. I didn't think I would be able to, but I have."

"But you do still love her, don't you." Sharpay stated not as a question, but as a fact.

Troy slowly nodded. "I think I do still have buried feelings for her," he responded as he lowered his head. "You know, it's not easy to forget about a person you dated for a long time."

I guess you can't forget your first love, can you?" Sharpay said as she bitterly smiled.

Troy looked up. "I never have forgotten you Sharpay."

"What?" Sharpay asked dazed.

Troy grinned boldly. "I never forgot you Sharpay. To be honest, I've always been impressed with you. I remember even being a little obsessed with you in 5th grade."

"What?" Sharpay again questioned confusedly. "I thought you hated me. You would always avoid me."

Troy looked at his feet hesitantly. "Well…Chad told me that he didn't like you, so I wasn't supposed to like you either."

Sharpay gasped sarcastically. "Chad said he didn't like me? Well…what else is new?"

"Yeah, well…" Troy responded.

"Yeah, and you went along with not liking me!" Sharpay said. She was teasing Troy.

Troy actually believed that Sharpay was angry with him. "I was a kid, Sharpay. I didn't know any better! I was just pretending that I hated you."

Sharpay began laughing. "Troy, chill out. I'm kidding."

Troy rolled his eyes and smiled. "If you weren't in a hospital bed, then I would sock you right now."

Sharpay laughed until she hiccupped. She loved times like these when she didn't have to be anything but herself. Troy was the only person—besides Ryan—that she could be her silly self with. That was what scared her.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I'm so sorry readers! I'm a terrible person and I have a pitiful excuse to offer. In all truth, I have come to a point in this story that I am no longer excited to write and post chapters. I have also become rather busy with school and such. I have been writing columns and articles for my school website and our local news station's website. However, I do realize that those are pitiful excuses, and I cannot truthfully commit to writing a chapter as frequently as some of you might like. So…I think I will try to wrap up this story ASAP and see what happens.

Troy actually believed that Sharpay was angry with him.

"I was a kid, Sharpay. I didn't know any better! I was just pretending that I hated you."

Sharpay began laughing. "Troy, chill out. I'm kidding."

Troy rolled his eyes and smiled. "If you weren't in a hospital bed, then I would sock you right now."

Sharpay started hiccupping as she laughed. "You'd never do that to me! You l-o-o-o-o-v-e me too much!" she responded as she over exaggerated the "o" in love.

She continued to laugh at Troy until the hiccups got the best of her. Her violent laughs turned into chuckles. She watched Troy's face as she quickly winded down. He was smiling, but he looked very serious at the same time. It was as if he were pondering something as he humored Sharpay's laugh-attack.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Troy?" She asked, stated her curiosity out loud.

Troy looked as if a feeling swept over him his smile quickly turned into a straight face as he leaned over. Sharpay felt Troy kiss her lips softly, yet with a great intensity at the same time. She didn't fight it, she just let her heart take over.

Sharpay moaned softly against Troy's lips and gasped to breath through the corners of her mouth. Troy momentarily broke their kiss and glanced at Sharpay with hesitant eyes. Sharpay, understanding Troy's reluctance in continuing, smiled and nodded in reassurance and slowly shifted to her right and patted the left side of the mattress that she had previously occupied.

Troy grinned and slowly lifted himself over the side railing that was attached to the mattress. He lowered himself next to Sharpay and reached over to gently kiss her again. Sharpay smiled as she pressed her lips onto his and she felt herself wanting more of Troy than any other boy she had ever dated. In fact, the only reason Sharpay hadn't wanted any other boy was because she had wanted Troy all along. In all truth, she had almost no experience with boys except whenever she would be assigned to kiss someone in theatre or in a play.

Troy started to slowly work his hands into Sharpay's long blonde hair. He suddenly stopped and broke their intense kiss as he untangled his hand from Sharpay's hair. As he brought his hand back, he noticed that quite a large amount of her hair had fallen out. He tried to quickly hide it from Sharpay, but she had noticed the tug from her head. Sharpay grabbed Troy's hand and glanced at it. In it, was her pale blonde hair. Sharpay loudly gasped and reached for the hair. Troy watched as tears began to form in her eyes and as Sharpay quickly reached for the back of her head to pull on her hair. More of it came out. Sharpay let out a sharp, piercing yelp and quickly ran to the bathroom that was conjoined to her hospital room.

Troy quickly climbed out of the bed and quickly ran after her. "Sharpay!" He yelled after her as he opened the bathroom door. He watched her reluctantly touch the ends of her pale hair and stroke it as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Sharpay slowly turned and faced Troy. "Why is this happening, Troy?"

Troy sighed. "Shar, this sometimes happens to people who are malnourished. You don't have enough vitamins in the roots of your hair, so it falls out," he responded as he recited the information that he had found on the Internet last week. He was hoping to learn more about eating disorders so that he would be able to help her.

"I'm so sorry, Sharpay."

Sharpay began to cry even harder as she sunk to the bathroom's tile floor. "Troy, I can't do this anymore! I can't lose my hair, I just can't! I'll look like a boy, then you'd never love me."

Troy shook his head fiercely, "I could never not love you, Shar. You're too important to me."

Sharpay blinked back her tears and looked at Troy disbelievingly. "Really?"

"Really," Troy responded as he helped Sharpay to her feet. He embraced her gently and placed a soft kiss on her left cheek. "I love you, Sharpay and I want you to get through this. Promise me that you'll try to get better," Troy whispered as he tightly embraced the distraught girl.

Sharpay sniffled. "I promise you, Troy."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry readers! I got caught up with my life again. It's kind of crazy out there. War, disease, wild fires…skanky girls exposing themselves **coughVanessaHudgenscough. ** Kidding…well not really. I always knew that I liked Sharpay better…

Now, on to the story!

Chapter 10

The luminous sun awoke Troy from his sleep. Troy groggily blinked and wiped his face with his hand. He searched his surroundings and found that he was still in Sharpay's hospital room. He looked down at Sharpay, who was sleeping peacefully next to him on the hospital bed. Troy noticed that the shine in Sharpay's hair, which he had loved to watch sway as she confidently walked down the hallways at East High, was quite lackluster. He gently brushed a strand of her pale blonde hair away from her face, and placed a kiss on top of her forehead.

Sharpay flinched and quickly aroused from her sleep. "Troy?" She groggily asked as she smiled at him.

Troy grinned, "I'm glad you're finally up."

"Did I sleep late, or something? Have you been waiting a while?" Sharpay asked worriedly.

Troy chuckled, "No, no. I'm kidding. I just woke up a second ago."

Sharpay rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Ha ha. You're so funny, Troy."

"I thought I was," Troy smirked as he stood up and reached for his sweater that he had abandoned the night before.

Sharpay giggled as she coyly reached for the pillow behind her. She quickly scrambled to her knees to get a closer aim as she prepared to launch the pillow at Troy.

"Hey Troy—" Sharpay started.

Troy whipped around and caught Sharpay's hand with the pillow in it before she could throw it at him. He grinned as he yanked it out of her hand and threw it at the befuddled Sharpay.

"Oww!" Sharpay grimaced as she rubbed the spot on her head that Troy had thrown the pillow on. "How'd you do that?"

Troy chuckled. "You don't get to be captain of the basketball team when you have poor reflexes."

Sharpay scowled at Troy and rolled her eyes. "Why can't you let me have my fun?"

"Why should I?" Troy laughed. "You had enough fun with me last night, didn't you?"

Sharpay gasped. "Troy Bolton! You know nothing happened last night!"

Troy smiled. "I know, I know. Wishful thinking, I guess."

Sharpay flashed a smirk as she climbed out of her bed. She quickly dashed past Troy into the bathroom with her make-up bag in tow.

Troy smirked at the scene and slowly sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the hospital bed.

A few minutes passed as Sharpay quickly groomed herself and dashed on some mascara and lip-gloss. When she found her appearance to be suitable for Troy, she quickly rushed out the bathroom, running into something on her way.

The something turned out to be a someone—Ryan.

"Ryan?" Sharpay breathily asked.

Ryan nodded and looked at Sharpay puzzled. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"I needed to use the bathroom, duh," Sharpay responded sarcastically.

"Oh," Ryan said quietly. He closed the door behind him and walked into the room. Sharpay sighed and shut the bathroom door and joined Ryan in the room.

"Hey Ryan," Troy said. "What's going on?"

Ryan shrugged as he looked around the hospital room. "Not too much."

Troy nodded in response. He watched as Ryan's eyes scanned the room. The room was rather messy with Sharpay's things scattered randomly around the room. Troy's shoes were lost in the mess and Ryan quickly spotted them.

"When'd you get here, Troy?" Ryan asked him suspiciously.

Troy paled and stammered, "Um, I—um…"

Sharpay broke in. "He stayed the night, for your information."

Ryan's eye twitched at that bit. "I really didn't need to know that."

"Well…you asked," Sharpay retorted.

"Ryan," Troy broke in. "Nothing happened. You don't have anything to worry about."

Ryan nodded as he sat down wearily on the bed. "Well, that's comforting…I guess."

Sharpay, taking notice of Ryan's tired motions, asked in concern, "Ryan? Are you okay? What's the matter?"

Ryan shook his head, "Nothing you need to worry about, Shar."

Sharpay looked at him in puzzlement. "Ryan, tell me. What is it?"

"It's nothing Sharpay! Just stop bugging me!" Ryan exclaimed shortly.

Sharpay, taken aback by Ryan's outburst, fell silent. The room sat in silence for minutes until a nurse stepped in to on check Sharpay.

The nurse then asked the two boys to leave the room so that she could weigh Sharpay and give her a shot. The boys agreed and left a shaken up Sharpay.

The two silently decided to walk to the cafeteria, where they went to on the first day of Sharpay's hospital stay.

As they neared the cafeteria, Ryan stopped Troy in a corner.

"Listen Troy, I need you to promise me that you won't say anything to Shar about what I'm going to tell you," Ryan told him with absolute seriousness.

Troy gave him a puzzled look. "I can't promise you anything, Ryan, before I hear what you are going to tell me."

"Troy, please. Just agree. This is very important. I can't let Sharpay know about this—at least not now," Ryan pleaded with him.

Troy paused and then slowly nodded in agreement. "Tell me what's going on. Does this have anything to do with what you didn't tell Sharpay in the room?"

Ryan nodded. "She can't know about this. I can't let her. She's too fragile right now."

"Tell me what's going on," Troy stated.

Ryan sighed as he led Troy into the cafeteria. They quickly ordered their coffees and sat down at a booth. Ryan paused for a while before starting.

"Troy, Sharpay's roommate at Julliard—Anna," Ryan started. He paused to search for his words. He then took a deep breath and said, "Troy, Anna's dead."


	11. Chapter 11

Last time:

"Troy, Sharpay's roommate at Julliard—Anna," Ryan started. He paused to search for his words. He then took a deep breath and said, "Troy, Anna's dead."

Chapter 11

Troy looked blankly at Ryan. "What? Her roommate's dead? How? Why? When?"

Ryan sighed and massaged his temples tiredly. "I've been up all night trying to get the facts, Troy. All I've come up with so far is that she was found in her room on Thursday morning—dead."

Troy shook his head. "I can't believe this. I didn't know her or anything, but I knew that Sharpay and her roommate were close. Do you think she was suicidal?"

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, trying to massage the knot out of his neck muscles. "I don't think so. The newspaper and Julliard said that they didn't find a weapon that could have killed her. They aren't sure at this point," Ryan responded. He paused and then said quietly, "I think it might be drug related or Anna may have had the same problem Sharpay does."

Troy sighed. "I think Sharpay should know. She might be able to solve the mystery, too."

Ryan shook his head fiercely. "No. She can't know about this, Troy. Shar's too fragile right now, and I think this could break her."

Troy cut in, "Ryan, this was her friend. She has the right to know…"

"Troy, please don't," Ryan stated coldly. "I can't risk losing her. Just promise me that you won't tell her. Please, Troy."

Troy shook his head. "Ryan, I don't think you give Sharpay enough credit. She can handle stuff. She's getting better."

Ryan defensively shot back, "I think I'd know my own sister better than you, Troy. I've been her friend my entire life, you just finally noticed her this year! Just let me handle this. I'm her brother, and I make the decisions regarding Sharpay—you don't!"

Troy, shocked at Ryan's sudden outburst, paused and said quietly, "Okay, Ryan. You do what you think is right, but when this blows up in your face, I'll try and help as much as I can."

Ryan coldly slid out of the booth, grabbed his coffee, and left the cafeteria, leaving Troy contemplating his own actions.

A/N: Sorry! This was a really, really short update, but I'm sick right now, so I've lost my motivation to continue. Review, please!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: All right

A/N: All right. I realize that my sporadic updating has pissed off everyone. In all honesty, I wrote last chapter into a corner, but I have an idea where I will take this story.

Chapter 12

"Hello? Anyone here?" Troy exclaimed as he walked into Sharpay's hospital room. When he saw Sharpay reading a book in bed he pretended to gasp. "Opps! Sorry miss. I think I have the wrong room. I'm looking for my girlfriend; her name's Sharpay Evans. She's about…" Troy held his hand up to his chin, "this tall. Long blonde hair. Hates to read…"

Sharpay giggled and exclaimed, "Troy!"

He grinned at her and playfully held his hands up, trying to play innocent. He then headed towards her bed and gave her a quick kiss and motioned to the book. "What's this?"

Sharpay held it up so he could read the title.

"_Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder_," Troy read. He glanced at Sharpay inquisitively.

Sharpay sighed and started, "My mom was here. She left the book behind."

"Oh," Troy responded. "What happened with your mom?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "The same thing that always happens. She barges in, pretends like she's a caring mother, and tries to run my life. She got me a new shrink, because she thinks the psychiatrist here is incompetent. I just…I just can't deal with her Troy. Not now."

Troy squeezed her hand. "I know it's hard, Shar. You just have to try to deal with it. Your mom's just probably trying to help."

"No Troy," Sharpay said firmly as she shut the book. "She's not trying to 'help,' she's trying to control my life! You don't understand at all."

He shook his head. "Hello? I'm the one with the psycho-basketball-dad for a coach," Troy responded. "He tried to stop me from dating Gabriella and any other girl I was interested in, just so I would 'focus' on playing more basketball."

Sharpay attempted to muffle her giggles, but ended up in hysterics. "'Psycho-basketball-dad?'" she exclaimed.

Troy laughed. "Yeah, I guess I was a little harsh, but you've seen him. He can get intense!"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "I'm sure," she responded through giggles.

Knock, knock

Troy and Sharpay looked over at the hospital room door and saw two girls in the doorway.

"Sophia! Lauren!" Sharpay exclaimed as the two girls came into the room. Both eyed Troy as they walked to Sharpay's bed and embraced her. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh," Lauren started. "We were in the neighborhood and after Ryan told us the other day where you were at, we decided to stop in for a visit."

Sharpay nodded and smiled at both girls. She glanced at Troy and gasped. "Oh! Girls, this is Troy Bolton. He's my old friend from Albuquerque."

_Friend?_ Troy thought questionably as he turned his attention to the two girls. "Hi," he said as he flashed a polite smile.

Both girls responded their greetings and introduced themselves.

"It's nice to meet you Troy," Sophia responded. "Shar told us a lot about you."

"Oh she has?" Troy said as he glanced at Sharpay.

Lauren nodded. "Ryan said you two have been spending a lot of time together," she said suggestively.

Troy shifted in his chair uncomfortably. Sharpay, oblivious to Lauren's tone and Troy's uneasiness, responded, "That's the second time you've mentioned seeing Ryan. When and where did you see him?"

Lauren spoke up. "We saw him at the dorms. The police were asking questions and since you couldn't answer them, Ryan gave a statement for you."

Troy sprung up in his chair at this statement and stared at Lauren. _She can't blow this for me! _Troy thought.

"What?" Sharpay exclaimed. "Why were the police at the dorms? Did something happen?"

"You don't know?" Sophia exclaimed, glancing at Troy, who is by now visibly upset.

Lauren, didn't seem to understand the tension, and spoke up. "Yeah! You don't know? Anna's…"

"Dog is missing!" Troy interrupted. Lauren, puzzled, stared at Troy. He gave her an over-exaggerated head nod and exclaimed. "Isn't that right Lauren? The dog's been gone for days. Anna's trying to set up a cash reward."

Lauren nodded fiercely. "Yeah! Her dog's missing."

Sharpay was obviously confused. "But dogs aren't allowed in the dorm rooms. How could her dog be missing if she doesn't have one?"

Troy and Lauren glanced at each other. Sophia then jumped in. "It's actually her parents' dog. She just likes to call it her own dog. You know how Anna gets."

Sharpay stared at the trio. All three tried their best to remain calm. Sharpay then nodded and responded, "Yeah. She can be over-the-top sometimes."

Troy silently breathed a sigh of relief. He then changed the subject.

The rest of the visit was uneventful. As the two girls were giving their final good-byes, Troy piped up and said he would walk the girls to their cars and leave for the day himself.

"Okay Troy. Thanks for everything," Sharpay responded as she quickly kissed him goodbye.

Troy smiled, waved, and quickly led the girls out of the room and into the hallway.

"What the hell was that about?" Sophia exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Lauren added. "Why did we just lie to Sharpay?"

Troy motioned to be quiet and follow him. He led them to the elevator, and then turned to them.

"Listen. I realize you don't know me very well, but since you went along with the story in the room, I think you already trust me a little," Troy started.

Sophia nodded. "You are right. We don't know you very well. I don't know why Lauren went along with the story, but I could see how desperate you were. But I just want to know why we are lying to her."

The elevator doors opened and the trio stepped inside and pressed the button for the parking garage.

"I promised Ryan that I wouldn't tell her about Anna. In his opinion, Sharpay is too fragile to know what really happened."

"What?" Lauren exclaimed. "That's crazy. Sharpay's a strong person. She can handle it, and I think she deserves to know."

"I agree with you, but we have no right to interfere. All decisions regarding Sharpay are her family's decisions, not our's."

Sophia sighed as the elevator doors opened. "I guess you're right. I know this is selfish of me, but I was hoping that we could get through her death together. It's not exactly an easy thing, especially how she died."

Troy suddenly stopped. "Wait," he started. "How exactly did she die?"

Sophia glared at Troy and then looked at Lauren. Lauren piped up, "Um…natural causes of course."

"What? She's only in her twenties. There's no way…"

"Sorry Troy," Sophia exclaimed as she walked away with Lauren in tow. "We have to go! See you later!"

Troy glared at the two girls as they rushed to their cars. "Wait!" Troy exclaimed. _Great_, Troy thought to himself. _They must know how she died, and they aren't talking. I'll probably never get answers now._


End file.
